Rick Stegeman is a PhD candidate at the Utrecht University School of Governance. He studies the relationship between government and businesses. More specifically, he examines the authority (or reputation) of regulatory agencies: which factors contribute to their reputation, and (how) does their reputation influence corporate behaviour? In doing so, he aims to gain a better understanding of how regulatory agencies can be effective and authoritative.

Before this, Rick worked as researcher for the Wiardi Beckman Stichting and as junior lecturer at Maastricht University. He completed a research master in Political Philosophy and Ethics (summa cum laude) at KU Leuven, a master in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (cum laude) at Leiden University, and a bachelor in Liberal Arts and Sciences (cum laude) at Maastricht University.